1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for generating a list of qualified call recipients, and more particularly to one which electronically validates a supplied database of telephone numbers and distributes validated telephone numbers and the age of the validated numbers to telephone service representatives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephones have become a basic method for communicating with people and for gaining entry into a person""s domain. Telephones are used in businesses for marketing (telemarketing), verifying customer identity or requirements, distributing warnings or recalls, fund raising and many other purposes. Various tools and methods have been developed to make the use of the telephone more effective for businesses in these areas. Some of these tools and methods have integrated computers with the telephone system to improve the efficiency of telephone service representatives in placing and taking calls.
One of the tools in this area is the predictive dialer which uses a computer to launch more telephone calls than the telephone service representatives can handle because it is expected that a certain percentage of the calls will either be busy, not answer, or will be answered by a machine such as an answering machine, facsimile, computer, pager or other device. The calls that are answered by a human are automatically connected by the call launching computer to an available telephone service representative through a telephone switch. Predictive dialing increases the productivity of the telephone service representatives by not having them spend time calling numbers with no one at home or busy signals. However, there are several problems with predictive dialing including the high cost of a predictive dialing systems, the requirement that telephone service representatives be co-located or closely located with the predictive dialing system, and if an telephone service representative is not available when the person answers the predictive dialing system hangs up on the potential customer. For predictive dialing systems to be cost effective there must be a minimum number of telephone service representatives located at the same calling center with the predictive dialing system at the same time. As such, current predictive dialing devices are not cost-effective for use by small (e.g. less than 10) calling centers.
A method of qualifying telephone numbers for use by one or more telephone service representatives including supplying a telephone number database containing telephone numbers and validation criteria to a qualifying computer. The computer launches calls to the telephone numbers in the telephone number database and selects called telephone numbers that meet the validation criteria as qualified telephone numbers. Validated numbers are placed on a qualified number queue used for holding the qualified telephone numbers. A telephone service representation accesses the qualifying computer to request qualified telephone numbers from the qualified number queue. At least one qualified telephone number from the qualified number queue is passed to the requesting telephone service representative along with the age of the validated number. Using the telephone number, the service representative places a call to the qualified telephone numbers.
The method can include the process of maintaining the size of the qualified number queue in a size range based on the number of available requesting telephone service representatives. The size range has an upper limit and a lower limit. The qualifying computer maintains the qualified number queue within the size range by ceasing to launch calls to the telephone numbers in the telephone number database when the number of qualified telephone numbers in the qualified number queue reaches the upper limit of the size range. The qualifying computer resuming to launch calls to the telephone numbers in the telephone number database when the number of qualified telephone numbers in the qualified number queue reaches the lower limit of the size range.
The method can include the step of using the qualifying computer to associate a time stamp with the qualified telephone number indicating the time when the qualified telephone number was selected. This supports the additional step of using the qualifying computer to compare the current time to the time when the qualified telephone number was selected to determine an elapsed time since the qualified telephone number was selected. Then the qualifying computer passes the qualified telephone number from the qualified number queue only if the elapsed time falls within a time range specified in the validation criteria.
The call qualification method can support multiple telephone number databases from a single client, or multiple clients with one or more telephone number databases. The call qualification method also supports one or more telephone service representatives working on one or more telephone number databases. A client manager can control the telephone number database to which a telephone service representative is assigned.
Preferably, the telephone number database and the validation criteria are communicated over the Internet or by other means. The call qualification system waits until one or more telephone service representatives for the client are logged onto the call qualification system locally, remotely, or over the Internet. The call qualification system then begins launching calls to telephone numbers in the client supplied database. The system analyzes each call to determine the status which could include: busy signal, ringing signal, intercept signal, no answer, modem, fax machine, answering machine, or human. The qualified telephone numbers that meet the client-specified validation criteria, are placed in a qualified call queue for communication to logged-on telephone service representatives. The telephone numbers that are not validated are flagged as to their status and placed back in the telephone number database to be retried. Telephone service representatives logged into the call qualification system request qualified telephone numbers individually or in groups from the call qualification system.
One advantage of the call qualification system and method is that it automatically pre-validates the telephone numbers according to a client selected validation criteria before they are sent to the telephone service representatives. This greatly reduces the time spent by the telephone service representatives in unproductive activities, such as encountering unwanted telephone status, such as a busy signal or no answer. The result is an increase in the productivity of the telephone service representatives.
Another advantage of the call qualification system is its ability to provide coordinated support to a plurality of telephone service representatives who are distributed at a plurality of locations remote from the qualifying computer. Use of remote logons and the Internet allows the source of the client database, the call qualification system and each of the telephone service representatives to be at different, distributed locations. Each telephone service representative location with computer or Internet access can retrieve telephone numbers from the qualified call queue. This eliminates the need for centralized phone banks at which multiple telephone service representatives must be co-located to have access to validated telephone numbers. This allows telephone service representatives to work from home or other convenient location, eliminating travel time and costs for the telephone service representative and the cost of dedicated phone banks for the client.
Still another advantage of the call qualification system is its ability to support many clients simultaneously. Without the need for co-located telephone service representatives and dedicated telephone lines, the call qualification system can be monitoring and filling the qualified call queues for several clients at the same time without affecting the activities of the telephone service representatives. This allows the call qualification system to work closer to full capacity without demanding that all the capacity come from just one or a small number of clients.
Yet another advantage of the call qualification system and method is added time flexibility. Telephone service representatives can log into the call qualification system at their convenience from any location with a telephone and direct or Internet access to the call qualification system because unlike a predictive dialing system that requires a telephone representative to be present to receive a call being handed off by the predictive dialer, the present invention permits a call to be made over a wider range of times.
Also, when compared to known predictive dialing systems, the call qualification system of the present invention is more cost effective when used with smaller groups of telephone service representatives working for a single client due to its ability to service many clients simultaneously. The flexibility in calling location, time schedule, and servicing of multiple clients enables persons to serve efficiently as telephone service representatives using the call qualification system, who might not otherwise be able to work as telephone service representatives or otherwise to participate effectively.
Additional features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the description that follows, and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the drawings in connection with the following description.